The Case for Artificial Reefs

Coral reefs are valued for economic and ecologic reasons. However, they are being degraded at alarming rates primarily by anthropogenic causes. A solution for environmental remediation can be found in designed artificial reefs if proper guidelines and considerations are met.

I looked at the four stages of artificial reef project development; pre-implementation, application, management and design, in order to assess each step’s importance. I focused my research on artificial reef design details in relation to reef ecology and then assessed the effectiveness of two prefabricated reef modules both in design and in case studies.